Implement Loop Agent Skill

Drives a set of tracker issues to done through a loop.

Context cost
3.5k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
5 files · 19.2 kB1 script among them — read before you run
Licence
MITthe author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Drives a set of tracker issues to done through a loop. Each issue gets one fresh agent session. The tracker and git are the only memory between iterations. Use to implement explicit issue refs or a spec issue's sub-issues unattended, or to triage ready work into an ordered run first.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

productivity

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md7.8 kB · preview
--- name: implement-loop argument-hint: "issue refs, or a spec issue ref; no argument starts triage" disable-model-invocation: true ---
8# Implement Loop
9
10One run, many issues. A fresh session completes each issue. This session is the **operator**: it assembles the queue, starts [scripts/loop.sh](scripts/loop.sh), watches the run, and reports. Each iteration is a disposable session that follows the project's implement skill on exactly one issue. The loop stays thin, because implement already carries the discipline: claim, build with tests first, escalate on decisions, close or release. The tracker and the git history are the only memory between iterations. The run folder is operator state, not a record.
11
12The loop does not run tests. Backpressure belongs in the repository — pre-commit hooks, and the checks the entry file tells every session to run. The loop enforces only what a worker cannot self-report around: a closed moved HEAD, the tree came back clean, and the branch did not drift.
13
14If the docs/ folder or docs/TRACKER.md is missing, stop. Ask the user to invoke the set-up-for-agents skill. The implement skill must also be installed in this project. If it is not, stop and say so.
15
16The recommended place for a loop is inside agentbox, the machine-level OS sandbox from the set-up-sandbox skill. The wrapper covers the whole process tree, so the script and every iteration inherit it automatically: private paths and credentials stay masked, the system stays untouchable, and the permissive flags the recipes use become safe to run unattended. Confirm the session is inside the wrapper before starting — a masked path (such as ~/Main on this skill's home machine) lists as empty. If the machine has no agentbox, suggest running the set-up-sandbox skill first. A run outside the wrapper is the user's decision. Do not block on it. But say plainly that each iteration then has full, unconfined access to the machine and its credentials. The loop's runner recipes cover Claude Code and Pi; for any other agent, the developer adds their own recipe in [references/runners.md](references/runners.md), following the note there.
17
18While the loop runs, the loop owns the working tree. Do not edit files. Do not claim issues. Do not commit. A dirty tree leaks into the next iteration's commit.
19
20## Steps
21
221. **Assemble the queue.** Three intake forms:
23 - **Issue refs** — fetch each one. Drop the closed issues. Flag the issues that are claimed or that have the label needs-review, and ask whether to include them.
24 - **A spec issue** (label spec) — its open sub-issues are the queue. The spec itself never enters the queue.
25 - **Nothing** — triage: list the ready work; show it numbered, with priority and blocking edges; recommend the issues for the run, and their order; iterate with the user. Gaps in the backlog are not yours to fill here. Point to the create-issues or maintain-codebase skill instead.
26
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,240 words
Files5
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈110
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
3,440
on trigger
The instruction body and 4 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
1.8%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 18% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

3.5k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Middling. Fine to keep on in a project where you use it weekly, worth unloading in one where you never do.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

5 files, 19.2 kB on disk. Mostly text — the instructions the model reads — with 1 script in it that your client would run only if the instructions tell it to.

  • SKILL.md7.8 kB
  • agents/openai.yaml0.2 kB
  • references/runners.md4.2 kB
  • scripts/loop.sh5.0 kB
  • assets/templates/prompt.md2.0 kB
What is not in it

A skill installs nothing and depends on nothing: it is a folder your client reads. This one carries 1 script beside the text, so the bundle is 5 files you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Implement Loop · 3.5k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/implement-loop/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/implement-loop" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/implement-loop ] || { mv .claude/skills/implement-loop "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/implement-loop" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/implement-loop"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add builtbystef/implement-loop

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/implement-loop/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/implement-loop/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/implement-loop" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/implement-loop ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/implement-loop "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/implement-loop" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/implement-loop" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/implement-loop/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencebuiltbystef/implement-loop

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

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